Method and handheld electronic device for displaying and selecting diacritics

ABSTRACT

A handheld electronic device includes a keypad having a plurality of keys and a selection member; a display component; and a processor cooperating with the keypad and the display component to provide a display at the display component. The display includes a first representation of a plurality of the keys, and at least one of: (a) a second representation of an activated one of the input members, (b) a third representation including a plurality of diacritics disposed about an activated one of the input members, and (c) a fourth representation including a plurality of diacritics disposed about an activated one of the input members, and a direction of selection between the activated one of the input members and one of the diacritics. The processor cooperates with the selection member to adjust the direction of selection, and select one of the diacritics for display by the display component.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to handheldelectronic devices and, more particularly, to handheld electronicdevices and methods that display and select diacritics.

2. Description of the Related Art

Numerous types of handheld electronic devices are known. Examples ofsuch handheld electronic devices include, for instance, personal dataassistants (PDAs), handheld computers, two-way pagers, cellulartelephones, and the like. Many handheld electronic devices also featurewireless communication capability, although many such handheldelectronic devices are stand-alone devices that are functional withoutcommunication with other devices. Such handheld electronic devices aregenerally intended to be portable, and thus are of a relatively compactconfiguration in which keys and other input structures often perform aplurality of functions under certain circumstances or may otherwise havea plurality of aspects or features assigned thereto.

Some known handheld electronic devices including, for example, a trackball, insert accents from a horizontal menu or list in response to auser holding a key and scrolling across using the track ball. Forexample, in response to entry of the letter “e” (e.g., from either areduced keypad or from a full keypad), a horizontal menu or list shows,for example, “ë”, “ê”, “è”, “é” and “e”. Alternatively, a menu or listis not employed, but scrolling simply changes the accents, with the usernot being necessarily aware of the future sequence of different possibleaccents.

Another known method of accent insertion by a handheld electronic deviceis to list the accents in a secondary grid format for insertion inresponse to a minimum of two user clicks.

Often, when a user is attempting to enter an accented character, a breakin fluid typing is required in known handheld electronic devices, sincethe user must often search through a list or grid of all accents inorder to find the desired accent. Hence, some users often neglect toinclude accents or an obscure letter treatment due to the large break influid typing.

A pie menu (also known as a radial menu or marking menu) is a circularpopup menu where selection depends on direction. A pie menu is made ofseveral “pie slices” around an inactive center and works best withstylus input, and well with a mouse. Pie menus also work well withkeyboard acceleration, particularly four and eight item menus, on thecursor keys and the number pad. A goal of pie menus is to provide asmooth, reliable gestural style of interaction for novices and experts.A slice can lead to another pie menu; selecting this may center themouse cursor in the new menu. Pie menus are often context-sensitive,showing different options depending on what the mouse cursor waspointing at when the menu was requested. Pie menus are drawn as pieslices with a hole in the middle for an easy way to exit the menu.

There is room for improvement in handheld electronic devices thatdisplay and select diacritics.

There is also room for improvement in methods of displaying andselecting diacritics for a handheld electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full understanding of the disclosed and claimed concept can be gainedfrom the following description of the preferred embodiments when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a handheld electronic device in accordancewith embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram in schematic form of the handheld electronicdevice of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a routine of the processor of the handheldelectronic device of FIG. 1A for display and selection of a diacritic.

FIGS. 3A-3E, 4A-4E, 5, 6 and 7 are simplified displays of a handheldelectronic device for display and selection of a diacritic in accordancewith other embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the specification.

DESCRIPTION

As employed herein, the term “number” shall mean one or an integergreater than one (i.e., a plurality).

As employed herein, the term “processor” means a programmable analogand/or digital device that can store, retrieve, and process data; acomputer; a workstation; a personal computer; a microprocessor; amicrocontroller; a microcomputer; a central processing unit; a mainframecomputer; a mini-computer; a server; a networked processor; or anysuitable processing device or apparatus.

As employed herein, the term “characters” means letters, digits, symbolsand the like and can additionally include ideographic characters,components thereof, and the like.

As employed herein, the term “mark” means a displayed symbol (e.g.,without limitation, as is employed for punctuation or pronunciation).

As employed herein, the terms “diacritical mark” and “diacritic” mean amark added to a letter or other character to indicate a specialpronunciation, or a mark near or through an orthographic, phonetic orother character, or a combination of characters, indicating a phoneticvalue different from that given to an unmarked or otherwise markedelement. Some non-limiting examples of diacritical marks and diacriticsinclude: (1) an accent or accent mark (e.g., “′” placed above the letter“e”, thus “é”, to provide an acute accent; “{grave over ( )}” placedabove the letter “e”, thus “è”, to provide a grave accent), which is adiacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel toindicate a special pronunciation; (2) breve, which is a diacritical mark(e.g., U-shaped) placed over a vowel to indicate a relatively shortsound; (3) cedilla, which is a diacritical mark (e.g., “,”) placed belowthe letter “c” to indicate that it is pronounced as an “s”; (4)circumflex, a diacritical mark (e.g., “^”) placed above a vowel in somelanguages to indicate a special phonetic quality; (5) hacek or wedge(e.g., V-shaped), which are diacritical marks (e.g., an invertedcircumflex) placed above certain letters (e.g., the letter “c”) toindicate pronunciation; (6) macron, which is a diacritical mark (e.g.,“-”) placed above a vowel to indicate a relatively long sound; (7)tilde, which is a diacritical mark (e.g., “˜”) placed over the letter“n” in Spanish to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel inPortuguese to indicate nasalization; and (8) umlaut, dieresis, ordiaeresis, which are diacritical marks (e.g., two dots or “{umlaut over( )}”) placed over a vowel in German to indicate a change in sound.

As employed herein, the term “reduced keypad” means a keypad or othersuitable keyboard in which multiple letters, symbols, and/or digits, andthe like, are assigned to any given key. For example and withoutlimitation, a touch-tone telephone includes a reduced keypad byproviding twelve keys, of which ten have digits thereon, and of theseten keys eight have Latin letters assigned thereto. For instance, one ofthe keys includes the digit “2” as well as the letters “A”, “B”, and“C”. Other known reduced keypads have included other arrangements ofkeys, letters, symbols, digits, and the like. Since a single actuationof such a key potentially could be intended by the user to refer to anyof the letters “A”, “B”, and “C”, and potentially could also be intendedto refer to the digit “2”, the input generally is an ambiguous input andis in need of some type of disambiguation in order to be useful for textentry purposes.

As employed herein, the term “full keypad” means a keypad or othersuitable keyboard in which plural letters are not assigned to any givenkey. Optionally, some of the other keys may have multiple symbols and/ordigits, and the like, assigned to each of those other keys.

As employed herein the term “touchpad” means an input apparatusstructured using any suitable technology to determine the location of auser's finger (e.g., without limitation, X_Finger, Y_Finger) withrespect to two axes (e.g., without limitation, a horizontal axis and avertical axis; an X axis and a Y axis) of a planar or generally planarsurface.

Embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept solve the problem ofdisplaying possible diacritics and selecting one of those diacritics byemploying, for example, a relatively quick directional indicator thatpreferably mimics the directional stroke of a diacritical mark, such as,for example, an accent. Preferably, the directional indicator employsboth the proximity and the transfer of visual elements from thecharacter employing the diacritical mark. This is very different fromknown accenting user interfaces of known handheld electronic devices.

In accordance with one aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept, ahandheld electronic device comprises: an input component comprising aplurality of input members and a selection member; a display component;and a processor structured to cooperate with the input component and thedisplay component to display at the display component: a firstrepresentation of a plurality of the plurality of input members, and atleast one of: (a) a second representation of an activated one of theplurality of input members, (b) a third representation including aplurality of diacritics disposed about an activated one of the pluralityof input members, and (c) a fourth representation including a pluralityof diacritics disposed about an activated one of the plurality of inputmembers, and a direction of selection between the activated one of theplurality of input members and one of the plurality of diacritics,wherein the processor is further structured to cooperate with theselection member to adjust the direction of selection, and to select oneof the plurality of diacritics for display by the display component.

The third representation may be a selection window displayed on thedisplay component.

The selection window may include a representation of a portion of akeypad or touchpad as the first representation, and also the secondrepresentation and the fourth representation.

The fourth representation may be a direction of selection or spatialreference corresponding to the selected one of the plurality ofdiacritics.

The selection window may be a circular selection window having a centerand a circular edge; the second representation may be disposed at aboutthe center of the circular selection window; each of the plurality ofdiacritics may be disposed at a different position proximate thecircular edge of the circular selection window; and the fourthrepresentation may be disposed between the center of the circularselection window and the selected one of the plurality of diacritics.

In addition to the plurality of diacritics, the display component maydisplay a number of marks, each of the number of marks having a logicalconnection to a character represented by the second representation.

The display component may include a selection window having arepresentation of a portion of a keypad or touchpad, a designation of aselected character, and a direction of selection corresponding to thedirectionality of the selected one of the plurality of diacritics.

The selected one of the plurality of diacritics may not have a logicalplacement corresponding to a selected character represented by thesecond representation of the activated one of the plurality of inputmembers.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept,a method of selecting diacritics is for a handheld electronic deviceincluding an input component having a plurality of input members and aselection member, a display component, and a processor cooperating withthe input component and the display component. The method comprises:displaying a first representation of a plurality of the plurality ofinput members; displaying at least one of: (a) a second representationof an activated one of the plurality of input members, (b) a thirdrepresentation including a plurality of diacritics disposed about anactivated one of the plurality of input members, and (c) a fourthrepresentation including a plurality of diacritics disposed about anactivated one of the plurality of input members, and a direction ofselection between the activated one of the plurality of input membersand one of the plurality of diacritics; adjusting the direction ofselection; selecting one of the plurality of diacritics; and displayingthe selected one of the plurality of diacritics.

The method may further comprise displaying a selection window as thethird representation; including with the selection window a center andan outside edge; disposing the second representation at about the centerof the selection window; disposing each of the plurality of diacriticsat a different position proximate the outside edge of the selectionwindow; disposing the fourth representation between the center of theselection window and the selected one of the plurality of diacritics;representing a character with the second representation; and employingfor a number of the plurality of diacritics and the different positionthereof a logical connection to the character represented by the secondrepresentation.

The method may further comprise displaying a circular selection windowhaving a center and a circular edge; disposing the second representationat about the center of the circular selection window; disposing each ofthe plurality of diacritics at a different position proximate thecircular edge of the circular selection window; and disposing the fourthrepresentation between the center of the circular selection window andthe selected one of the plurality of diacritics.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept,a handheld electronic device comprises: a touchpad; a display component;and a processor structured to cooperate with the touchpad and thedisplay component to display at the display component: a firstrepresentation of a plurality of input members, and at least one of: (a)a second representation of an activated one of the plurality of inputmembers, and (b) a third representation including a plurality ofdiacritics disposed about an activated one of the plurality of inputmembers, wherein the processor is further structured to cooperate withthe touchpad to select one of the plurality of diacritics for display bythe display component.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosed and claimed concept,a method of selecting diacritics is for a handheld electronic deviceincluding a touchpad, a display component, and a processor cooperatingwith the touchpad and the display component. The method comprises:displaying a first representation of a plurality of input members;displaying at least one of: (a) a second representation of an activatedone of the plurality of input members, and (b) a third representationincluding a plurality of diacritics disposed about an activated one ofthe plurality of input members; selecting one of the plurality ofdiacritics responsive to the touchpad; and displaying the selected oneof the plurality of diacritics.

An improved handheld electronic device 4 is indicated generally in FIG.1 and is depicted schematically in FIG. 1A. The example handheldelectronic device 4 includes a housing 6 upon which are disposed aninput apparatus 8, an output apparatus 12, and a processor apparatus 16.The input apparatus 8 is structured to provide input to the processorapparatus 16, and the output apparatus 12 is structured to receiveoutput signals from the processor apparatus 16. The output apparatus 12comprises a display 18 that is structured to provide visual output,although other output devices such as speakers, LEDs, tactile outputdevices, and so forth can be additionally or alternatively used. Theoutput apparatus 12 can also comprise a wireless transceiver 21.

As can be understood from FIG. 1, the input apparatus 8 includes akeypad 24, a touchpad 26 (shown in hidden line drawing in FIG. 1) and amultiple-axis input device which, in the example embodiment depictedherein, is a track ball 32 that will be described in greater detailbelow. The keypad 24 comprises a plurality of keys 28 in the exampleform of a reduced QWERTY keyboard, meaning that at least some of thekeys 28 each have a plurality of linguistic elements assigned thereto,with at least some of the linguistic elements being Latin lettersarranged generally in a QWERTY configuration. The keys 28 and the trackball 32 all are disposed on the front surface 29 of the housing 6 andserve as input members that are actuatable to provide input to theprocessor apparatus 16. The keypad 24 and the track ball 32 areadvantageously disposed adjacent one another on the front surface 29 ofthe housing 6. This enables a user to operate the track ball 32substantially without moving the user's hands away from the keypad 24during a text entry operation or other operation.

One of the keys 28 is an <ESCAPE> key 31 which, when actuated, providesto the processor apparatus 16 an input that undoes the action whichresulted from the immediately preceding input and/or moves the user to aposition logically higher within a logical menu tree managed by agraphical user interface (GUI) routine 46. The function provided by the<ESCAPE> key 31 can be used at any logical location within any portionof the logical menu tree except, perhaps, at a conventional home screen(not shown). The <ESCAPE> key 31 is advantageously disposed adjacent thetrack ball 32 thereby enabling, for example, an unintended or incorrectinput from the track ball 32 to be quickly undone, i.e., reversed, by anactuation of the adjacent <ESCAPE> key 31.

Another of the keys 28 is a <MENU> key 33 which, when actuated, providesto the processor apparatus 16 an input that causes the GUI 46 togenerate and output on the display 18 a menu (not shown).

While in the depicted example embodiment the multiple-axis input deviceis the track ball 32, it is noted that multiple-axis input devices otherthan the track ball 32 can be employed without departing from thedisclosed and claimed concept. For instance, other appropriatemultiple-axis input devices could include mechanical devices such asjoysticks and the like and/or non-mechanical devices such as touch pads,track pads and the like and/or other devices which detect motion orinput in other fashions, such as through the use of optical sensors orpiezoelectric crystals.

The track ball 32 is freely rotatable in all directions with respect tothe housing 6. A rotation of the track ball 32 a predeterminedrotational distance with respect to the housing 6 provides an input tothe processor apparatus 16, and such inputs can be employed by a numberof routines, for example, as navigational inputs, scrolling inputs,selection inputs, and other inputs.

For instance, and as can be seen in FIG. 1, the track ball 32 isrotatable about a horizontal axis 34A to provide vertical scrolling,navigational, selection, or other inputs. Similarly, the track ball 32is rotatable about a vertical axis 34B to provide horizontal scrolling,navigational, selection, or other inputs. Since the track ball 32 isfreely rotatable with respect to the housing 6, the track ball 32 isadditionally rotatable about any other axis (not expressly depictedherein) that lies within the plane of the page of FIG. 1 or that extendsout of the plane of the page of FIG. 1.

The track ball 32 can be said to be a multiple-axis input device becauseit provides scrolling, navigational, selection, and other inputs in aplurality of directions or with respect to a plurality of axes, such asproviding inputs in both the vertical and the horizontal directions. Itis reiterated that the track ball 32 is merely one of many multiple-axisinput devices that could be employed on the handheld electronic device4. As such, mechanical alternatives to the track ball 32, such as ajoystick, might have a limited rotation with respect to the housing 6,and non-mechanical alternatives might be immovable with respect to thehousing 6, yet all are capable of providing input in a plurality ofdirections and/or along a plurality of axes.

The track ball 32 additionally is translatable toward the housing 6,i.e., into the plane of the page of FIG. 1, to provide additionalinputs. The track ball 32 could be translated in such a fashion by, forexample, a user applying an actuating force to the track ball 32 in adirection toward the housing 6, such as by pressing on the track ball32. The inputs that are provided to the processor apparatus 16 as aresult of a translation of the track ball 32 in the indicated fashioncan be employed by the routines, for example, as selection inputs,delimiter inputs, or other inputs.

As can be seen in FIG. 1A, the processor apparatus 16 comprises aprocessor 17 and a memory 20. The processor 17 may be, for instance andwithout limitation, a microprocessor (μP) that is responsive to inputsfrom the input apparatus 8 and that provides output signals to theoutput apparatus 12. The processor 17 interfaces with the memory 20.

The memory 20 can be said to constitute a machine-readable medium andcan be any one or more of a variety of types of internal and/or externalstorage media such as, without limitation, RAM, ROM, EPROM(s),EEPROM(s), FLASH, and the like that provide a storage register for datastorage such as in the fashion of an internal storage area of acomputer, and can be volatile memory or nonvolatile memory. The memory20 has stored therein the aforementioned number of routines 22 which areexecutable on the processor 17. The routines 22 can be in any of avariety of forms such as, without limitation, software, firmware, andthe like. Some non-limiting example routines include personalinformation routines 42, a spell checking routine 44, a disambiguationroutine 45, the aforementioned GUI 46, a diacritic selection routine 50,as well as other routines.

Referring to FIG. 2, the diacritic selection routine 50 for theprocessor 17 of FIG. 1A is shown. After starting, at 52, the routine 50displays a representation of a keypad (e.g., a portion of a full keypador a portion of a reduced keypad), at 54, and displays a representationof a key selected by the keypad or by the disambiguation routine 45, at56. Next, at 58, a selection window is displayed, which selection windowoverlays the displayed portion of the keypad. Then, at 60, it isdetermined if a selection has been made (e.g., by detecting pressing ofthe track ball 32 of FIG. 1). If so, then at 62, the selected characterwithout the diacritic is displayed before the routine 50 returns, at 64.Otherwise, at 66, it is determined if an adjustment has been made for adiacritic (e.g., by detecting rotation of the track ball 32 about theaxis 34B of FIG. 1). If not, then step 60 is repeated. On the otherhand, if the direction for selection was adjusted, then, at 68, arepresentation of that direction is displayed for possible selection ofa diacritic or the character without a diacritic.

Next, at 70, it is determined if a selection has been made (e.g., bydetecting pressing of the track ball 32). If so, then at 72, theselected diacritic or the selected character without the diacritic isdisplayed before the routine 50 returns, at 74. Otherwise, at 76, it isdetermined if an adjustment has been made for a diacritic (e.g., bydetecting rotation of the track ball 32 about the axis 34B of FIG. 1).If not, then step 70 is repeated. On the other hand, if an adjustmentwas made, then, at 78, the direction for selection is adjusted and, at68, the representation of that direction is displayed for possibleselection of another diacritic or the character without a diacritic.

In the example of FIG. 1, the handheld electronic device 4 includes theexample reduced keypad 24 having the keys 28 and a selection member,such as the example track ball 32. There, the processor 17 (FIG. 1A) isstructured to cooperate with the keypad 24 and the display 18 to displaya first representation 100 of a plurality of the keys 28, and a secondrepresentation 102 of an activated one of the keys 28, as is shown inFIG. 1. In this instance, since the key 28 (“ER”) includes the letters“E” and “R”, the processor 17 has caused (e.g., by using thedisambiguation routine 45) the letter “E” of the first representation100 to be highlighted as the second representation 102. Although thereduced keypad 24 is shown, the disclosed and claimed concept is alsoapplicable to a full keypad as will be discussed, below, in connectionwith FIGS. 3A-3E and FIGS. 4A-4E.

Referring to FIGS. 3A-3E, a portion of the display 18′ of anotherhandheld electronic device 4′ having a full keypad 24′ is shown. Otherthan the full keypad 24′, the device 4′ can be the same as or similar tothe device 4 of FIG. 1. For example, the device 4′ includes theprocessor 17 of FIG. 1A. In this example, the processor 17 includes theroutine 50 (FIG. 2) and cooperates with the full keypad 24′ and thedisplay 18′ to display a first representation 104 of a plurality of theplurality of keys 106 of the full keypad 24′, a second representation108 (FIG. 3B) of an activated one of the plurality of keys 106, a thirdrepresentation 110 (FIG. 3C) including a plurality of diacritics 112disposed about the second representation 108, and a fourthrepresentation 114 (FIG. 3D) of a direction of selection between thesecond representation 108 and one of the diacritics 112 of the thirdrepresentation 110. The processor 17 also cooperates with the exampletrack ball 32 (FIG. 1) or any suitable selection member to adjust (e.g.,rotation of the track ball 32 about the axis 34B (FIG. 1) causes acorresponding rotation of the representation 114 to the position shownby the representation 114′ (shown in phantom line drawing)) the fourthrepresentation 114 and its direction of selection of one of thediacritics 112. The processor 17 also cooperates with the example trackball 32 (e.g., which can be pressed into the plane of FIG. 1) to selectone of the diacritics 112 (e.g., 116 (“e”) (FIG. 3E)) for display by thedisplay 18′.

Example 1

Alternatively, for example, if the track ball 32 is pressed into theplane of FIG. 1 before being rotated, or if the representations 114 or114′ do not point to one of the diacritics 112, then the letter “e”(FIG. 3B) is selected.

Example 2

In this example, the second representation 108 is of an activated one ofthe keys 106 and includes one character (e.g., the example letter “e”).The third representation 110 of FIGS. 3C and 3D is a selection windowhaving a circular shape displayed on the display 18′. The exampleselection window includes a representation of a portion of the keypad24′ or a touchpad as the first representation 104, the secondrepresentation 108, and the fourth representation 114. A number of thediacritics 112 are accented characters (e.g., “è”, “ê”, “ë” and “é”).The example selection window (FIGS. 3C and 3D) is a circular selectionwindow having a center 118 and a circular edge 120. The secondrepresentation 108 is disposed at about the center 118 of the circularselection window, and each of the diacritics 112 is disposed at adifferent position proximate the circular edge 120. The fourthrepresentation 114 is disposed between the center 118 of the circularselection window and the selected one of the diacritics 112. This fourthrepresentation 114 provides a direction of selection or spatialreference corresponding to the selected one of the diacritics 112 (e.g.,116 (“é”) of FIG. 3E).

Example 3

As one example of the diacritics 112, the disclosed and claimed conceptis applicable to accented characters. However, it will be understoodthat any suitable diacritical character can be employed.

Example 4

In addition to the diacritics 112, the disclosed and claimed concept isapplicable to other suitable marks, each of which has a suitable logicalconnection to an initial character. Some non-limiting examples include:(1) the “dollar” symbol “$” can be under or about the letter “s”; (2)the registration symbol “®” can be under or about the letter “r”; (3)the copyright symbol “©” 122 (FIG. 4C) can be under or about (as shownin FIG. 4C) the letter “c” 124; (4) the Euro symbol

can be under or about the letter “e”; (5) the “and” symbol “&” can beunder or about the letter “a”; and (6) the “at” symbol “@” can be underor about the letter “a”.

Example 5

As shown in FIGS. 3D and 4D, by providing a selection window includingthe representation 104,104′ (e.g., an image) of a portion of the keypad24′ or touchpad, along with a designation provided by the representation108,108′ (e.g., a shadow) of the selected character (e.g., “e” or “c”),the directionality of the selected one of the diacritics 112 (mark)preferably corresponds to the direction of selection by therepresentation 114,114′. This will be further explained, below, inconnection with Examples 6 and 7.

Example 6

As shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, for example, the example selection windowpreferably provides logical directional and/or spatial references thatare relatively easy for users to remember. For example, the letter “e”with a forward leaning (or acute) accent, thus, “é”, is placed above andto the right on about a 45 degree angle from the start point (e.g., at108), while the letter “e” with a reverse leaning (or grave) accent,thus, “è”, is placed above and to the left on about a 45 degree anglefrom the start point. Also, the letter “ê” (e.g., having an uppercircumflex or hacek) is placed above the start point. However, not allcharacters and accents need to have a logical placement. See, forexample, the letter “ë” or any suitable character having, for example,an upper tilde, umlaut, dieresis, or diaeresis.

Example 7

As shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, for example, the example selection windowdisplay preferably provides logical directional and/or spatialreferences that are relatively easy for users to remember. For example,the letter “{hacek over (c)}” (e.g., having an upper diacritic) isplaced above the start point, while the letter “ç” (e.g., having a lowerdiacritic) is placed below the start point. Also, the symbol “¢” (e.g.,having a forward slash) is placed below and to the left on about a 45degree angle from the start point. However, not all characters andaccents need to have a logical placement. See, for example, the symbol“©” 122.

Example 8

Although the disclosed and claimed concept deals with diacritical marks112,112′, the disclosed and claimed concept can be applied to theselection of various currency marks (e.g., without limitation, “$”;

) or punctuation marks (e.g., without limitation, Spanish punctuationmarks, such as

;

).

Example 9

As shown in connection with FIG. 3A, the example input componentincludes the full keypad 24′. The second representation 108,108′ of anactivated one of the keys 106 of the keypad 24′ is one character (e.g.,“e” or “c”, as shown).

Example 10

As shown in connection with FIGS. 1, 5 and 6, the input componentincludes the reduced keypad 24 (FIG. 1). The second representation108″,108′″ of an activated one of the keys 28 of the keypad 24 is eitherone character 126 (e.g., “e”), as shown in FIG. 5 and as is obtainedfrom the disambiguation routine 45 (FIG. 1A), or a plurality ofcharacters 126,128 (e.g., “e” and “r”), as shown in FIG. 6. In theexample of FIG. 5, the representation 110 of the selection window (FIG.3C) can be employed. In the example of FIG. 6, the diacritics 112″ inthe representation 110′ of the selection window include, for example,“è”, “ê”, “ë”, “é”, and “®”.

Example 11

As an alternative, in FIG. 2, the step of displaying a representation ofa key selected by the keypad or by the disambiguation routine 45, at 56,and the step, at 58, of displaying a selection window, which overlaysthe displayed portion of the keypad can be combined, such that thedisplays of FIG. 3B or 4B are not required. In other words, followingthe display of FIG. 3A, the display of FIG. 3C can be displayed toinclude a representation including a plurality of diacritics 112disposed about an activated one of the keys 106 of the keypad 24′, orfollowing the display of FIG. 4A, the display of FIG. 4C can bedisplayed to include a representation including a plurality ofdiacritics 112′ disposed about an activated one of the keys 106 of thekeypad 24′.

Example 12

As an alternative to Example 11, the displays of FIGS. 3B-3C or FIGS.4B-4C are not required. In other words, following the display of FIG.3A, the display of FIG. 3D can be displayed to include a representationincluding a plurality of diacritics 112 disposed about an activated oneof the keys 106 of the keypad 24′, and a direction of selection 114′between the activated one of the keys 106 of the keypad 24′ and one ofthe diacritics 112; or following the display of FIG. 4A, the display ofFIG. 4D can be displayed to include a representation including aplurality of diacritics 112′ disposed about an activated one of the keys106 of the keypad 24′, and a direction of selection 114′ between theactivated one of the keys 106 of the keypad 24′ and one of thediacritics 112′.

Example 13

Although the examples of FIGS. 2, 3A-3E and 4A-4E have been described inconnection with the keypads 24,24′ and the track ball 32, operation withthe touchpad 26 (FIG. 1) is also possible. For example, if a user placeshis/her finger on the touchpad 26, then the processor apparatus 16(FIG. 1) can detect this and responsively cause a change of the displayof the device 4,4′ from FIG. 3B to FIG. 3C or 3D. This visual cue canallow the user to move his/her finger in any direction in thetwo-dimensional plane of the touchpad 26. For example, the X_Finger andY_Finger directions of the touchpad 26 can be tracked by the processorapparatus 16 to determine a direction of motion, in order to select(e.g., without limitation, by rotating one of the representations114,114′) one of the diacritics 112,112′ (e.g., as shown in FIG. 3E or4E) upon removal of the user's finger from the touchpad 26.

Example 14

As an alternative to Example 13, in FIG. 3B or 4B, the user can touchthe touchpad 26 (FIG. 1) at a position, for example, shown at 108 ofFIG. 3B or 108′ of FIG. 3B. In response, the processor apparatus 16causes a change to the display of the device 4,4′ from FIG. 3B to FIG.3C or 3D or from FIG. 4B to FIG. 4C or 4D. Since the diacritics 112,112′are displayed with an offset from the point of touch, they are visible.Then, the user moves the point of touch (e.g., by moving his/her fingerin any direction in the two-dimensional plane of the touchpad 26) from108,108′ to a desired one of the diacritics 112,112′. The processorapparatus 16 can optionally cause a change to the display of the device4,4′ during this movement, in order to show the current point of touch.Then, after the point of touch is placed over the intended one of thediacritics 112,112′, a release or an increase in pressure of thetouchpad 26 can be detected by the processor apparatus 16 in order toselect one of the diacritics 112,112′ for display at FIG. 3E or 4E.

Example 15

As an alternative to Examples 13 and 14, as shown in FIG. 7, the usercan touch another type of touchpad, such as the touchscreen 26′ ofhandheld electronic device 4″.

Although the disclosed and claimed concept is disclosed in connectionwith a handheld electronic device including a track ball and a touchpadas part of its user interface, it will be appreciated that the disclosedand claimed concept can be employed in connection with a wide range ofuser interfaces, including, for example and without limitation, any one,some or all of a touchscreen, touchpad, keyboard, keypad, track ball andother input and output apparatus.

While specific embodiments of the disclosed and claimed concept havebeen described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in theart that various modifications and alternatives to those details couldbe developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure.Accordingly, the particular arrangements disclosed are meant to beillustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the disclosed andclaimed concept which is to be given the full breadth of the claimsappended and any and all equivalents thereof.

1. A handheld electronic device comprising: an input componentcomprising a plurality of input members and a selection member; adisplay component; a memory storing a plurality of instructions; and aprocessor executing the instructions to: detect selection of at leastone of the input members; display a selection window including acharacter assigned to the selected input member, a plurality ofdiacritics corresponding to the character, and a directional indicatorbetween the character and one of the diacritics; receive via theselection member a first input indicating a preference for one of thedisplayed diacritics; determine an adjustment of the directionalindicator has been made for the preferred diacritic in response to thefirst input; display in response to the determination the directionalindicator between the character and the preferred diacritic, thedirectional indicator is indicative of a direction of selection orspatial reference corresponding to the preferred diacritic; receive viathe selection member a second input for selecting the preferreddiacritic; and display on the display component the selected preferreddiacritic.
 2. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein theselection window has a circular shape.
 3. The handheld electronic deviceof claim 1 wherein said selection window includes a representation of aportion of a keypad or touchpad.
 4. The handheld electronic device dclaim 1 wherein said selection window is a circular selection windowhaving a center and a circular edge; wherein the character is disposedat about the center of said circular selection window; wherein each ofsaid plurality of diacritics is disposed at a different positionproximate the circular edge of said circular selection window; andwherein the directional indicator is disposed between the center of saidcircular selection window and said selected one of said plurality ofdiacritics.
 5. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein anumber of said plurality of diacritics are accented characters.
 6. Thehandheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein in addition to saidplurality of diacritics, said display component displays a number ofmarks, each of said number of marks having a logical connection to thecharacter.
 7. The handheld electronic device of claim 6 wherein saidnumber of marks are selected from the group consisting of: $, ®, ©,

, &, and @.
 8. The handheld electronic device of claim 6 wherein saidnumber of marks are selected from the group consisting of a currencymark, and a punctuation mark.
 9. The handheld electronic device of claim1 wherein the selected one of said plurality of diacritics is selectedfrom a group comprising a first character having an upper acute accentplaced above and to the right of the character, a second characterhaving an upper grave accent placed above and to the left of thecharacter, and a third character having an upper circumflex or hacekplaced above the character.
 10. The handheld electronic device of claim1 wherein the selected one of said plurality of diacritics does not havea logical placement corresponding to the character.
 11. The handheldelectronic device of claim 10 wherein said selected one of saidplurality of diacritics comprising at least one of an upper tilde,umlaut, dieresis, or diaeresis.
 12. The handheld electronic device ofclaim 10 wherein said selected one of said plurality of diacritics is ©.13. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein the selected oneof said plurality of diacritics is selected from a group comprising afirst character having a forward slash placed below and to the left ofthe character, a second character having an upper diacritic placed abovethe character, and a third character having a lower diacritic placedbelow the character.
 14. The handheld electronic device of claim 1wherein said input component comprises a full keypad, said plurality ofinput members comprise a plurality of keys of said keypad, and saidselection member comprises a track ball.
 15. The handheld electronicdevice of claim 1 wherein said input component comprises a full keypad.16. The handheld electronic device of claim 1 wherein said inputcomponent comprises a reduced keypad.
 17. A method of selectingdiacritics for a handheld electronic device including an input componenthaving a plurality of input members and a selection member, a displaycomponent, and a processor cooperating with said input component andsaid display component, said method comprising: detecting selection ofat least one of the input members; displaying a selection windowincluding a character assigned to the selected input member, a pluralityof diacritics corresponding to the character, and a directionalindicator between the character and one of the diacritics; receiving viathe selection member a first input indicating a preference for one ofthe displayed diacritics; determining an adjustment of the directionalindicator has been made for the preferred diacritic in response to thefirst input; displaying in response to the determination the directionalindicator between the character and the preferred diacritic, thedirectional indicator is indicative of a direction of selection orspatial reference corresponding to the preferred diacritic; receivingvia the selection member a second input for selecting the preferreddiacritic; and displaying on the display component the selectedpreferred diacritic.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the selectionwindow including a center and an outside edge; and the method furthercomprising: disposing the character at about the center of saidselection window; disposing each of said plurality of diacritics at adifferent position proximate the outside edge of said selection window,the different position of each diacritic representing a logicalconnection between the diacritic and the character; and disposing thedirectional indicator between the center of said selection window andsaid selected one of said plurality of diacritics.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the selection has a circular shape.
 20. A handheldelectronic device comprising: a touchpad; a display component; a memorystoring a plurality of instructions; and a processor executing theinstructions to: detect a character input; display a selection windowincluding a character in response to the character input, a plurality ofdiacritics corresponding to the character, and a directional indicatorbetween the character and one of the diacritics; receive via thetouchpad a first input indicating a preference for one of the displayeddiacritics; determine an adjustment of the directional indicator hasbeen made for the preferred diacritic in response to the first input;display in response to the determination the directional indicatorbetween the character and the preferred diacritic, the directionalindicator is indicative of a direction of selection or spatial referencecorresponding to the preferred diacritic; receive via the touchpad asecond input for selecting the preferred diacritic; and display on thedisplay component the selected preferred diacritic.
 21. A method ofselecting diacritics for a handheld electronic device including atouchpad, a display component, and a processor cooperating with saidtouchpad and said display component, said method comprising: detecting acharacter input; displaying a selection window including a character inresponse to the character input, a plurality of diacritics correspondingto the character, and a directional indicator between the character andone of the diacritics; receiving via the touchpad a first inputindicating a preference for one of the displayed diacritics; determinean adjustment of the directional indicator has been made for thepreferred diacritic in response to the first input; displaying inresponse to the determination the directional indicator between thecharacter and the preferred diacritic, the directional indicator isindicative of a direction of selection or spatial referencecorresponding to the preferred diacritic; receiving via the touchpad asecond input for selecting the preferred diacritic; and displaying onthe display component the selected preferred diacritic.